Bromine-containing charge transfer

Charge-transfer (C-T) bands have been located in the spectra of solutions of phenanthridine in 1,2-dimethoxyethane containing bromine solutions containing up to a 2 1 mole ratio of halogen to base were examined, but the structure of the species involved is not clear. Phenanthridine satisfies the conditions necessary for both n and tt- donation and n donation is apparently involved in the charge-transfer interaction with iodine. The equilibrium constant for this reaction has been determined spectrophotometrically, but the claimed correlation (for a series of A -heteroaromatic bases) between values (in 50% ethanol) and these C-T equilibrium constants appears to be an unsatisfactory one and in any case lacks theoretical justification, since it is doubtful whether dissociation constants provide, in general, an accurate measure of w-ionization potentials. In particular, the excellent correlation in the case of phenanthridine is probably fortuitous, since the authors report that w-halogen interactions are markedly sensitive to steric factors which are almost... 

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